Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex
The Olympic National Sports Complex (also known as Olympic Stadium) is a multi-use sports and recreation facility in Kyiv, Ukraine, located on the slopes of the city's central Cherepanov Hill, Pechersk Raion. The stadium is the premier sports venue in Ukraine and the second largest in Eastern Europe after Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium. The complex beside its stadium also features several other sports facilities and is designed to host the Olympic Games (the stadium hosted some football matches at the 1980 Summer Olympics). Following extensive renovation works, including the construction of a new roof, the stadium was reopened on 9 October 2011 with a performance by Shakira and had its international inauguration with a 3–3 friendly draw by Ukraine against Germany on 11 November 2011. It hosted the final of Euro 2012. History After Ukrainian independence in 1991, the stadium was given national status in 1996 and renamed again as the "Olympic" National Sports Complex. Kyivans still commonly refer to it as the Tsentralny (Central) or Respublykanskyi stadion (Republican Stadium), and the nearby metro station "Olimpiiska" that was also called "Respublykanskyi Stadion". In 1997–99, the stadium was renovated again in accordance with FIFA guidelines, and its capacity was reduced to 83,450. The stadium continued to be the home ground of Dynamo with the Lobanovsky stadium serving as a training ground. Sometime after 1998 big changes took place as it was no longer efficient to keep and maintain the stadium as a club ground. Dynamo decided to reconstruct the Lobanovsky Dynamo Stadium as its primary ground because match attendances rarely exceeded 10,000 spectators. Since that time Olympic has been used primarily for football international matches and was lent to FC Dynamo Kyiv for high-profile home games when a high attendance was expected. However it is not the official home ground of Dynamo or any other Kyiv club, as they all have smaller home stadiums and training bases. The stadium is an official home ground of the Ukraine national football team and was the official venue of the Ukrainian Cup final until 2008. From 2008 Olympic underwent a major reconstruction in preparation for the continental championship. Previous names For most of its history the stadium was known as the Republican Stadium. * 1923: Red Stadium of Trotsky * 1924–1935: Red Stadium * 1936–1938: Republican Stadium of Kosior * 1938–1941: Republican Stadium (capacity 50,000) * 1941: Republican Stadium of Khrushchev * 1941–1943: All-Ukrainian Stadium * 1944–1962: Republican Stadium of Khrushchev * 1962–1979: Central Stadium (capacity 100,000 in 1967) * 1980–1995: Republican Stadium * 1996–present: Olympic NSC (capacity 83,450 in 1999; reduced to 70,050 from 2011) Euro 2012 On 18 April 2007, Poland and Ukraine were chosen by UEFA to co-host the finals of Euro 2012, with the Olimpiysky Stadium set to host the final. The reconstruction of the stadium involved the demolition and rebuilding of the lower tier, a completely new west stand with a two-level press box, luxury boxes between the two tiers, the addition of a 13-storey high-rise building to the west (to house the Sheraton Kyiv Olimpiysky Hotel), and the addition of a new roof (of unique design) covering the entire seating area. The capacity of the stadium after the reconstruction is 70,050. Reconstruction began on 1 December 2008, when the winner of a tender was announced. It was scheduled to be finished in 2011. The stadium was officially opened by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on 8 October 2011. Three Group D matches, a quarter-final and the final were scheduled for here (with the other matches in Group D being played at the Donbass Arena). In the first match, Ukraine beat Sweden by a scoreline of 2–1. The final, held on 1 July 2012, saw Spain thrash Italy by the record-breaking score of 4-0 on the way to their third title. Matches at Euro 2012 Concerts When international music superstars or bands come to Kyiv, their concerts are often held in this stadium, as it is the biggest in Ukraine and one of the biggest in Europe. Artists to have performed here include George Michael and Shakira. On 25 July 2012 was concert of world famous rock-bands Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kasabian and The Vaccines. Madonna performed a concert at the stadium on 4 August 2012 as part of her MDNA Tour. 31,022 people visited her show. Depeche Mode performed at the stadium on June 29, 2013 during their Delta Machine Tour, in front of a crowd of 36,562 people. Famous Ukrainian rock-band Okean Elzy performed and celebrate on the stadium their 20 anniversary on 21 June 2014. Aerosmith were scheduled to perform at the stadium on July 2, 2014 as part of their Global Warming Tour, but the concert was cancelled due Russian military intervention to Ukraine. Transportation The stadium is located right in the centre of Kyiv city on the right bank of the river Dnieper. The stadium can be approached mainly by either Velyka Vasylkivska vulytsia (Velyka Vasylkivska Street) or bulvar Lesi Ukrainky (Lesya Ukrainka Boulevard). Both streets' southern ends connect to the European Route E95, which is known at that part of the city as bulvar Druzhby Narodiv (Friendship of Nations Boulevard). However the main arena of the complex does not have a direct access to the mentioned streets and can only be reached through several smaller streets such as vulytsia Fizkultury, vulytsia Saksahanskoho, vulytsia Shota Rustavelli, vulytsia Esplanadna, and perevulok Hospitalny. The main bridge that connects Kyiv with Boryspil is the Pivdennyi Bridge which carries both automobile and subway traffic. External links *Journal of reconstruction «Olympic» NSC *Fairytales about logotypes of «Olympic» NSC *Atmosphere and Pictures from Olimpiyskiy *Financial overview of construction (article) *Location of the stadium on the META maps Ukraine Category:UEFA Euro 2012 stadiums in Ukraine